This version of Canelo is 35, coming off elbow surgery, a loss to Terence Crawford, and recent fights where sustained pressure increasingly pushed him toward the ropes rather than into command of center ring.
Mbilli, meanwhile, fights at a much higher pace than the fighters Canelo has recently struggled with in spots. Crawford pressured selectively. Edgar Berlanga only attacked with urgency late in their fight. William Scull had moments. Mbilli fights that way for entire fights.
“I will not change anything,” Mbilli said during Friday’s press conference in Cairo before outlining exactly how he intends to approach the fight.
“I will keep my style, throw punch, put pressure, and we’re going to see if he can deal with this, you know.”
Mbilli also dismissed the idea that he would approach Canelo with the caution shown by some of Alvarez’s recent opponents.
“You’re going to be surprised in September,” Mbilli said. “I’m not Berlanga. I’m not Munguia.”
Canelo appeared irritated by the suggestion that age and timing are working against him.
“He says it’s the perfect time because I’m old,” Canelo said. “I say to him, if I was 50 years old, you still cannot beat me in this life.”
The DAZN panel repeatedly described Mbilli as a favorable style matchup for Canelo because of his willingness to press forward. Sergio Mora argued that Canelo traditionally struggles more with movers and jab-heavy boxers like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Dmitry Bivol, and Crawford. But Mbilli’s pressure may present a different problem entirely.
The unbeaten WBC super middleweight champion throws nonstop combinations, stays in range, and does not appear discouraged by counters. In his fight against Lester Martinez last September, Mbilli kept forcing exchanges even after absorbing power shots. Martinez repeatedly resorted to shoving Mbilli backward to create space and slow the pace.
Canelo has never relied on that kind of roughhouse approach to manage pressure. Earlier in his career, he controlled aggressive fighters with body punching, counter punching, strength, and positioning. The question now is whether he can still do that for 12 rounds against a naturally bigger, younger super middleweight who fights at a pace few opponents in the division can maintain.
“I love it,” Canelo said when asked about facing an opponent who plans to come directly at him.
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